Zuo Yue Zi

Zuo Yue Zi in mandarin, or “sitting the month” in English.  Maternity doesn’t end at giving childbirth, Zuo Yue Zi is the 4th trimester! 

Much blood is lost during and after childbirth, the new mother’s body is very weak and vulnerable.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qi (energy) is required to essential to life, both physical and spiritual.  Women also lose a lot of Qi during pregnancy and labor.   This disturbance in the flow of Qi can cause many disharmonies in the body.  Deficiency of Qi and blood lead to tiredness and fatigue, which will make the immune system very susceptible to disease.  If Qi and blood is not recovered, it may lead to many serious problems which might manifest early or years later…

As childbirth drains the mother’s blood and Qi, Jing Mommy believes that the 30 day s postpartum period is critical for mother’s recovery.  The 30 day of Chinese traditional postpartum is like recreating a woman.  Not only will it help you regain the loss of blood and Qi, it will also give you more strength and stamina for future.  There’s an old Taiwanese saying “Take care of the baby during pregnancy; take care of postpartum after giving birth.” (產前補胎，產後顧月內)  In Taiwan and China, every woman knows it is important to Zuo Yue Zi, doing Zuo Yue Zi right will help you recover from childbirth, produce more breast milk, and revitalize your body.

Week 1: Detoxification stage

Right giving birth, there is still some lochia (uterus discharge) in your body that we need to get rid of; therefore, during this initial stage, we select ingredients that helps the detoxification process of the postpartum body. Especially, everyday of this week, we provide all the moms Sheng Hua soup, a concoction that specifically designed with Chinese herb to help uterus contraction to rid of lochia. This process prepares you for the next stage: Repairing stage.

Week 2: Replenish stage

Once the body has gone through a week of detoxification, your body is ready for the repairing process. Ingredients such as beef, kidney, and green vegetable are rich with iron to aid your body return to pre-pregnancy levels in the postpartum period. This process helps replenish your blood, energy, and “chi”, thus gradually prepare your body for the last stage: Rejuvenate stage.

Week 3-4: Rejuvenate stage

At the last stage, the purpose is to rejuvenate all the energy lost during labor and pregnancy. If you imagine your body as a vessel, after detoxification and repair stage, your body is ready to be rejuvenated. Dishes such as bone broth soup, sesame oil chicken, and braised short ribs, food that is high in nutritional value and easy for the body to consume, is featured in this stage.

At Jing Mommy, we cook delicious mouthwatering traditional postpartum meals for new mothers in USA.  We understand that moms in USA would want balanced nutrition and something that’s not too heavy or greasy.  Our meal will help you remove “stale blood” (lochia) and regain Qi (energy).